It looks like Amy Chua, the Tiger Mom, is coming out with a new book. It’s co-written with her husband Jed Rubenfeld, and it’s called, “The Triple Package: Why Groups Rise and Fall in America.” It’s about why certain groups/cultures fail, and why others succeed. It’s much the same argument made by Steven Silberger (who wrote a great book) and Niall Ferguson (who gets carried away with his Christian mythology). You can order it here.

“Fathers have a very simple job. All you’ve got to do is this: be all-powerful, so your kids feel safe when they’re little; be all-good, so your kids know the difference between right and wrong; and give your children a sense of the world’s deep magic, mystery and joy, before they’re too old to learn. “

Some of you may have noticed that my blogging has been more sporadic as of lately. Unfortunately, this is a trend that will probably continue in the near future as I’m trying to re-prioritize my offline life. So if you’re checking here everyday for the comments, please continue to do so. If not, subscribe with Google Reader. And yes, even though my blogging may be less frequent, please feel free to continue sending me articles. I really do enjoy getting that feedback.

Oh my God, my God: Hell NOOO. Oh my God. Oh my God. And the Joy Luck Club producers…I’ve seen what they can do, and oh man, I think I’m having an allergic attack…

I’m speechless. I want to continue the discussion about Martin Jacques brilliant TED presentation, but this has to go to the top temporarily just to warn you Asian people that once again, look out. We’ll bump this post back down later, maybe for the weekend…but y’all need warning.

[Most of the AA Blogosphere has been angry and incensed at Amy Chua’s article about Chinese-style parenting. I got hold of someone with a different take on the whole debate. Printed with permission; read it below, and feel free to comment. –B]

Initially I was incensed at the audacity of Professor Chua’s article, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” and what seemed to be the proposition: exercise totalitarianism over your children if you want them to become high-achieving good Samaritans; use negative reinforcement as the primary instrument in aforesaid method of parenting. Because that in a nutshell was my childhood and adolescence, an aspect of my past that brings up less than idyllic memories, and reminds me of the parental governance I viciously defied. In fact, Chua’s article brought up stories of trauma I don’t even remember.

Amy Chua, author of World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, wrote an article about Chinese child-rearing today: Why Chinese Mothers are Superior (Thanks to Jason from RiceDaddies for sending; and thanks to Fai for asking for this post.) In the article, Chua espouses a hard-line “Chinese” way of raising kids. She tells us how strict she is with her kids. She writes about how Chinese mothers, as opposed to “Western” mothers, don’t care about self-esteem. She writes about how Western people coddle their children. She justifies her own ridiculous behavior by talking about how well Chinese kids do in school. She uses her White Jewish husband Jed as a counterpoint to her insanity.